Yesterday, Google sent out an email to all third-party Android developers, informing them that significant changes have been made to the Google Play Developer Program. The alterations affect apps as well as the advertising practices that they use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf5-Prx19ZM&feature=player_embedded

Over the last few years we’ve seen Apple’s competition start to really take it to Cupertino in TV ads. Sometimes it seems petty but according to Samsung’s marketing chief, Arno Lenior, the tsunami of ads mocking Apple fans were a huge boon for the company.

In an interview with AdNews, Samsung’s Lenior says that the ads were brilliant because they got Apple fanboys and Samsung fans to bash with one another over which beloved “brand” is better:

Ad impressions reached a record high during the fourth quarter of 2012, according to data from Opera’s latest State of Mobile Advertising report, with revenue to publishers more than twice that of any previous quarter throughout the year. The figures show that Android continues to increase its share of the market, but it’s got a long way to go before it topples iOS, which boasts a whopping 41.91% share.

I’d say the single most annoying part of my mobile experience is when I accidentally click on a strategically placed ad. Most of the time, ads are placed in close proximity to where a user needs to touch in order to scroll or advance — not to mention there’s little screen real estate to begin with. Thankfully, and surprisingly, Google has been working on making accidental clicks a thing of the past.

Samsung continues with their ad campaign of portraying the competition as feeble cattle being led to slaughter. I’m starting to think they’re over-hyping this a bit, but considering they purchased a multi-million dollar 90 second spot during the Super Bowl, I’d say they can do pretty much anything they want (wish I had that kind of cash to blow).